Bill may put crimp in teen tanning

Friday

Jun 29, 2007 at 12:01 AMJun 29, 2007 at 9:55 AM

Looking to highlight a new dress or bathing suit with a little skin color, Stephanie Geldis started going to tanning salons when she was 16 or 17, often before major events like spring break or the prom.

"If you have your parents' permission, they should allow you to do it," the now-18-year-old said while working at the Bexley pool. "It's your own body. It's your own choice."

Looking to highlight a new dress or bathing suit with a little skin color, Stephanie Geldis started going to tanning salons when she was 16 or 17, often before major events like spring break or the prom.

"If you have your parents' permission, they should allow you to do it," the now-18-year-old said while working at the Bexley pool. "It's your own body. It's your own choice."

But fearing that Stephanie and thousands of her fellow teenagers are exposing themselves to unhealthy doses of cancer-causing ultraviolet rays, a bill under debate in the General Assembly would ban anyone younger than 18 from indoor tanning without a doctor's prescription.

Current Ohio law requires minors to have a parent's permission before climbing onto a tanning bed.

"I'm generally not a fan of tanning in a booth," she said, "but I still think that it should be a personal choice."

Rep. Courtney Combs agrees that his bill does take away some parental rights, and he's OK with that.

"I don't believe parents are educated to the fact of how dangerous these tanning rays can be to a young child," the Hamilton Republican said. "Surely to God, if you knew that, you wouldn't allow your child to go into a tanning bed."

Combs is armed with data about the connection between sun exposure and skin cancer, including a recent study about the risk in children. Still, he's bracing for opposition from the tanning industry and those worried about privacy rights.

Rep. Tom Brinkman Jr., R-Cincinnati, chairman of the committee hearing the bill, is not a fan of the idea. "I'm kind of for freedom," he said. "If you're going to ban this, should we ban tattoos and piercings?"

The city of Hamilton in Butler County proposed a ban similar to Combs' a year ago. After a swell of opposition from residents, City Council members chose to leave it up to state lawmakers.

Dr. Louis Barich, a Hamilton dermatologist with more than 40 years of experience, pushed the local ban and helped convince Combs to propose a state one. He said people get 80 percent of their damaging exposure to ultraviolet radiation before the age of 18.

"People who don't go to tanning beds are not as likely to develop a skin cancer," he said.

The Melanoma Center at the University of Pittsburgh said rates of the disease, the most deadly form of skin cancer, have more than doubled the past 20 years. Barich also said that 20 minutes in a tanning bed equals five hours in the sun, a statistic that Robert Quinn calls misleading.

Quinn, president of Tan Pro USA, which operates 13 salons in the Columbus area and 30 in Ohio, said if you consider the intensity of the noon sun in Phoenix, there is no difference between indoor and outdoor tanning.

Although those younger than 18 make up less than 10 percent of his business, Quinn said, the bill "would absolutely have an impact on us."

"Indoor tanning is the only place people get sun on a regulated basis," he said.

The Ohio State Board of Cosmetology regulates tanning-parlor safety, hygiene and sanitation. Director Kevin Miller said there has been just one age-related violation since March 2005.

Combs doesn't think the current parental requirement is well enforced.

"If a teenager gets an older sibling to come in with them, a lot of times they don't even ask them to sign," he said. "It's kind of a wink and a nod."

Marie Beadnell of Westerville started taking her 14-year-old daughter, Labranda, tanning three or four months ago to get her ready for a spring break trip. She said her daughter burns easily, so this was a way to get started.

The base tan provides at best the most minimal of protection, said Bruce Brod, clinical associate professor of dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania.

It is still exposure to ultraviolet light, and people still can burn with a base tan.

Beadnell thinks Combs' bill is an intrusion.

"I grew up on a farm, baling hay. I was in the sun all the time," Beadnell said, adding that she thinks the sun is more dangerous than tanning booths.

"It'd be like saying 'You can't go to McDonald's because you'll get fat.' "